Recent Posts
Anticuchos (Peruvian Beef Heart Kabobs)
Peruvian Beef Heart Kabobs
In Stoned Soup’s September installment of “How In The Hell Do You Cook That?”, site followers voted between beef heart and beef intestines. Beef heart won with a majority of the votes. So how am I going to cook this thing? I know what it tastes like, but have never personally prepared heart. So this is what I’ve learned from research…Beef heart is very low in calories and fat; about the same as a chicken breast. It is very high in iron, protein, and vitamin B12. The only downside to beef heart is that it is very high in cholesterol. While the heart is an organ, it is also a muscle. It is fibrous unlike liver, kidneys, or other organ meat. I purchased my beef heart at my local Asian market. I bought 2 chunks that equaled about 3lbs. They came untrimmed, which isn’t a problem for me to do. If you purchase a beef heart untrimmed, all of the fat, silver skin, veins or arteries need to be removed. After the trimming, I yielded 1 1/2lbs of lean meat. The best part of purchasing the beef heart is that it’s $1.99lb.I’ve recently been reading up on Peruvian cuisine and culture to add more South American recipes to the website. I just happen to stumble across a beef heart recipe where the heart is marinated and grilled on kabobs. They are called anticuchos and are a huge staple in Peruvian cuisine, dating back to the country’s colonial times. They are also sold as a popular street food in Peru.Making these kabobs is pretty easy once the heart is trimmed. To get maximum flavor, marinate the meat overnight. You can either grill or broil the kabobs. Heart doesn’t need to be cooked for very long. In this situation, it is best medium rare. If cooked more then that, they will be tough. These kabobs only take 4-5 minutes a side, turning out surprisingly tender. Like, really, really tender.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs beef heart trimmed
- 1/2 red onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp cumin seed
- 2 canned chipotle peppers
- 3 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Purée in a food processor or blender the garlic, cumin, chipotle peppers, red wine and apple cider vinegars, smoked paprika, and olive oil.
- Set aside in a bowl.
- Here in the pic are 2 chunks of beef heart. Trim them of all fat, silver skin, and any veins or arteries.
- Once trimmed, you will end up with 2 nice pieces of meat.
- Cut the meat into 1 1/2” cubes. Add the heart to the marinade and marinate for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- When ready to cook, turn on your oven’s broiler, moving the top rack 6” away. Skewer up the heart with pieces of red onion in between the meat. Place on a broiler pan or on a baking rack.
- Broil for 5 minutes a side.
Pickled Shishito Peppers
Pickled Shishito Peppers
These shishito peppers are a great pickled condiment that has multiple uses. Use them in salads, on sandwiches, as an accompaniment to meat, a garnish, or eat them as is. You can leave these whole or slice them while they are pickling. The peppers will be ready for consumption in a day, but will taste best in a week.
Ingredients
- 16 oz shishito peppers
- 2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 3 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp coriander seed
- 2 tbsp black and white peppercorns
- 4 garlic cloves thinly sliced
Instructions
- Mix all of the brine ingredients together. Bring to a boil.
- Equally distribute the brine between 2 – 16oz mason jars packed with shishito peppers. Screw the lid on tight. Let sit until it comes to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator.
Sichuan Fish with Pickled Mustard Greens
Sichuan Fish with Pickled Mustard Greens
This recipe is completely new territory for me. I’ve eaten a lot of Chinese food, but have never really ventured into anything pickled. This is a dish that you won’t find at most Chinese restaurants in the U.S. You may instead find Sichuan boiled fish in a hot chili oil broth. This recipe has a hot and sour broth with poached fish slices and pickled mustard greens. Dare I say that this dish is definitely for the more adventurous eater. It has it’s own “funk”, and I mean that in the best way possible. If you aren’t a fan of sour, this might not be for you. Think of this recipe as poached sauerkraut fish.When choosing fish, you want to use a firm fleshed white fish such as tilapia, catfish, or cod. I happened to have a couple of walleye fillets. Cut the fish fillets into 1/4”-1/2” thick slices. You don’t the pieces to be too big. The objective here is to quickly have the fish poached in the broth.You can serve this as a soup like in the picture. But if you want to serve this the authentic Chinese way, you would scoop out all of the greens with a slotted spoon onto a serving dish after it has simmered for 15 minutes. Then the fish would be quickly poached in the broth. The fish is then layer across the greens with a little bit of the broth on the bottom. Lastly, the Sichuan oil is drizzled over the fish. To eat this, serve with a small bowl of rice. The purpose of the Sichuan oil drizzled over the top is to add an extra umami flavor to the fish. This step is very necessary and should not be skipped.
Ingredients
Fish Marinade
- 1 lb white fish fillet sliced into 1/2” thick pieces
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp potato starch
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
Sichuan Fish with Pickled Mustard Greens
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 dried chili peppers
- 6 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 leek sliced
- 2 ginger slices
- 3 green onions chopped
- 2 tbsp spicy bean paste
- 3/4 lb pickled mustard greens sliced
- 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 4 cups chicken stock plus more
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
Sichuan Oil
- 2 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 1 tsp sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tbsp spicy bean paste
Instructions
- Mix together the fish marinade ingredients.
- Add in the slices of fish, making sure they are evenly coated in the marinade. Marinate for 20 minutes.
- Heat up cooking oil inalag pot over medium high heat. Add in the dried chilies, leeks, garlic, ginger, and green onions. Cook down for 5 minutes.
- Add in the pickled mustard greens. Cook for 5 more minutes.
- Stir in the bean paste, making sure that everything is evenly coated in it. Deglaze with the cooking wine.
- Pour in the chicken stock, sugar, salt, and white pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Add in the fish. Simmer another minute or two, until the fish is cooked through.
- In a separate small sauté pan, heat up cooking oil over medium heat. Add in the peppercorns and bean paste.
- Cook until the peppercorns start to darken.
- Drizzle some of the oil over the fish.
